Senior Strategist

Responsibilities

• Act as the strategic lead and brand custodian on the specific PO1 brand in partnership with the Managing Partner and Creative lead.
• Articulate and interrogate client needs based on the brand and business strategy, as well as ensure ongoing engagement with client around their business needs.
• Use research to create original and innovative insights and provide a high-quality interpretation of research findings.
• Understand commercial context of brand communication as well as the need to measure and track effectiveness
• Understanding of ATL, BTL and digital channel strategy to enable end-to-end solutions for clients
• Liaising with strategic counterparts at partner agencies to ensure alignment and understanding of the strategy, as well as ensuring the various disciplines remain on track.
• High-level understanding of digital transformation and marketing automation and being able to partner with specialists in this area
• Working with and inspiring the team to produce a clear and directional strategy that is founded on commercial and consumer insights
• Guide the team beyond the brief through an in-depth understanding of client business needs as well as consumer needs
• Writing and collaborating on inspiring creative briefs, from a day-to-day business POV, as well as proactive.
• Develop, construct and present compelling strategies to clients
• Provide relevant target market insights across various consumer categories, and beyond South Africa into broader Africa.
• Provide input into optimising the customer experience and ensuring brand consistency
• Constantly monitor campaigns and projects to ensure they adherence to the set strategic direction
• Constantly raise the standard of strategic output across all client accounts
• Inspire a culture of strategic thinking and innovation throughout the strategy department and the wider agency
• Lead and present the outcome of strategic work for new business pitches
• Proactively monitor your clients' brands and industries so that you are able to share with client and the team, positioning the agency as a thought leader and opening organic growth opportunities
• Be able to problem-solve and be resourceful to tackle even the most unusual marketing briefs
• Be able to exercise strategic principles and structured thinking to tackle business development projects assigned by client and/or non-marketing communication briefs

Qualifications / Experience

• Marketing/brand/consulting communication experience of 10+ years
• Relevant marketing/communications diploma/degree
• Hands-on experience with online marketing tools and practices
• Strong understanding of media strategy and planning
• Experience in developing, managing and presenting solutions within a creative environment
• Proven ability to create cross-channel and content strategies
• FMCG experience
• African Experience